1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of electrical connectors, and in particular to the clamp nut retaining mechanism suitable for use in a two or three piece hardline connector.
2. Description of Related Art
In a known two or three piece hardline connector, such as the one described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/338,776, filed on Nov. 10, 1994, and incorporated herein by reference, the connector is secured to the shield of the cable by a clamping mechanism in which a tapered clamping ring secured to a rear clamping nut is used to cam a gripper mechanism onto the cable as the clamping ring is moved axially in response to rotation of the clamping nut.
In order to ensure proper operation of the camming mechanism and to permit sealing of the parts through o-ring compression, it is conventional in the known connector to provide for axial movement between the clamping ring and the clamping nut, and as a result the clamping ring of the known connector is secured to the clamping nut by means of a slot and snap ring arrangement which allows some play between the secured-to elements.
In this arrangement for securing the clamping nut to the clamping ring of a hardline cable connector, a portion of which is shown in the attached FIG. 21, the rear clamping nut is of essentially cylindrical hollow configuration and is formed with a first hole into which a compression ring may slide. An O-Ring is sandwiched between the compression ring and the rear clamping nut in order to form an environmental seal between the two. The rear clamping nut has a slot or groove formed on its inner peripheral surface and the compression ring has a corresponding slot or groove formed on its outer peripheral surface. A snap ring is placed within the two slots in order to retain the compression ring within rear clamping back nut until final assembly.
While this type of slot and snap ring retaining mechanism performs adequately, manufacture is relatively expensive and time consuming because of the recessing and slotting operations required, and the number of pans involved.